Official ‘SOMA’ Gameplay Teaser Released from Amnesia Creators

SOMA, the next game from the creators of Amnesia, is set to be out in 2015 for PC and Playstation 4, but Frictional decided to give us a taste. But man, it does look to be another doozy.

SOMA is a sci-fi horror game that stars a computer gone psychotic–think System Shock 2 or Portal with a little of Frictional’s own take on it.

Frictional has been teasing this game for a little while, but we have gotten an actual good look at it now, and I’m even more eager to put myself through the torture this game will throw at me.

The creative director for SOMA, Thomas Grip, took some time to describe SOMA:

SOMA is meant to be a proper sci-fi game, and to get that right we couldn’t let the themes be an afterthought. My favorite works of sci-fi are the ones that use fantastic worlds to probe important issues in a way that down-to-earth settings just cannot. Great sci-fi authors like Asimov, Dick and Heinlein all do this. We want to give SOMA this quality as well.

The subject that SOMA will discuss is consciousness. Personally, I find it the most profound questions that it is possible to ask. “How can the feeling of subjective experience arise from a chunk of flesh?” Exploring this further takes us to questions such as “Can machines be conscious?” and “Do we have free will?” It quickly gets very disturbing and is ideal for a futuristic horror setting. It is the kind of sci-fi that we want to make.

From the start, we knew that this could not just come through background story or dialog. We want you to PLAY through this. It must be an integral part of the gameplay and not just fluff.

Part of this comes through the game’s monsters. You will encounter a number of strange creatures, each an embodiment of an aspect of our themes. In order to survive the journey, you need to understand how they work and in the process take on extremely unsettling subjects.

Our goal is for SOMA to not just be another carnival ride of cheap scares. It is meant to chill you at the core and confront you with questions about your very existence.

What do you think, are you intrigued by the premise of SOMA? Will you be picking this up on the PS4 or PC next year? Comment below!

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I'm a writer from Canada who loves video games. That's why I write about them. I also enjoy TV shows, but not a lot of them. If you've got any enquiries, you can contact me at [email protected] or Twitter @crankafoo